A Not Very Mysterious Medical Mystery

Tricky times to write about abject NHS failures, but that's what I started writing for.

Last May, I posted this : http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/this-is-what-fight-costs-us.html I'd come down with a racking cough, I was exhausted, had fevers, night sweats and had started losing weight. We put it down to my dodgy immunity, arranged some anti-biotics and I carried on. But it came back. And back. And back. And back. The crisis came here http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/so-how-am-i.html when I got rushed into hospital with a raging fever, my face the size of a football and a cough that made me choke, unable to gasp for breath.

Last October, I posted this : http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/diagnosis-challenge.html
My hubby had :

-Chills that make the bed shake-Breathlessness/Difficulty breathing
-Chest Pains - across whole chest, worse on breathing in
-He is grey with huge black circles under his eyes
-Sweats so bad, the bed is drenched and has to be changed
-Exhaustion - like when you've just had surgery. He's been asleep for the best part of this week

It's never really gone away. He's still getting chest pains, night sweats and has a permanent, racking cough. They said he was "just depressed"

Since New Year, my 7 year old has had a "chest infection" that just won't clear. He got paler and paler, skinnier and skinnier. I wash his bedding every other day as the sheets are often drenched. FINALLY, the local surgery listened to his chest AGAIN "Oh dear, that sounds rather dreadful" and sent him for an X-ray. Guess what? His lungs were badly infected everywhere. they're saying he's had pneumonia. Hubby didn't even get an X-Ray. My X-Rays wouldn't show anything much either way because of the cocophany of immuno-suppressants I take.

Here is the front page of my chemo-shot website : http://www.humira.com/ Please note, the following disclaimer is NOT just a standard part of a drug insert warning of every possible side effect under the sun. It is on the front page. In bold type :

"Serious infections have happened in people taking HUMIRA. These serious infections include tuberculosis (TB) and infections caused by viruses, fungi, or bacteria that have spread throughout the body. Some people have died from these infections. Your doctor should test you for TB before starting HUMIRA, and check you closely for signs and symptoms of TB during treatment with HUMIRA. If your doctor feels you are at risk, you may be treated with medicine for TB."


Here's some more info : " In HIV and other immunosuppressed persons, any abnormality may indicate TB or the chest X-ray may even appear entirely normal.^[1]"


But what did my local hospital do? Laughed at me, refused to test me for TB, sent me home and then sent me this follow up letter :


..."it may have been suggested while you were an in-patient that we would follow up on your care as an out-patient. We do not feel this is necessary."






So they wouldn't even see me again!!! I've had a persistent cough, weight loss, night sweats and low grade fevers for 10 MONTHS!!! Now, Addenbrookes must do their job instead and have started the drawn out process of trying to arrange tests, scans and specialists from 130 miles away. I weigh 6 stone 6 by the way which makes "weight loss" a little more scary than it would for most people. 


Last week, I started coughing again. Bringing up muck, bubbly little fevers. But hey, I'm fine. Nothing to see here, move along. 


So my question is, would someone please pay me 100k or so a year to be a doctor? Because I'm seriously beginning to wonder exactly what the point of our local lot IS.